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Published on: August 18, 2022
Abnormal methylation of ST8SIA4 in low-motility sperm: A genome-wide identification approach
Chia-Ching Chang1, Li-Chun Liu2, Yu-Ting Chou3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Objective:
To identify abnormally methylated genes associated with low motility sperm and to validate the DNA methylation level of our candidate gene ST8 alpha-N-acetyl-neuraminide alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 4 (ST8SIA4) in low-motility sperm.
Materials And Methods:
The MethylationEPIC Array which can measure methylation at >850,000 CpG sites and a pooled DNA strategy were used to investigate the genome-wide methylation profiles in sperm with different motility. A total of seventy semen samples, including 52 normozoospermic controls and 18 asthenozoospermic samples, were used to examine the quantitative DNA methylation level of ST8SIA4 gene.
Results:
Using the gene function classification in the DAVID Bioinformatics Resources, we found that the abnormally methylated genes in the asthenozoospermia samples were predominantly associated with transcription regulation, metal binding, microtubules, meiosis, palmitate, zinc, and developmental proteins. Interestingly, these glycosyltransferase-associated genes were all hypomethylated in asthenozoospermia, except for ST8SIA4.
Conclusion:
The promoter methylation level of ST8SIA4 was significantly higher in sperm samples with low motility compared with normal control samples.
